Artwork of the Day: A House In the Uplands (by James Avati)

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Dazzling Erin

by James Avati

This James Avati-illustrated cover is from 1953.

Music Video of the Day: Cruisin’, covered by Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow (2000, dir by Bruce Paltrow)

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Does anyone remember that film Duets?

It came out in 2000 and it was a film about the cutthroat world of karaoke competitions. If you don’t remember it, that’s okay. It’s not like it’s some sort of lost classic or something. I saw it a few years ago and my main impression was that whoever made it was so fascinated by the world of karaoke that he never considered that not everyone else would be.

Anyway, when the movie came out, the main thing that everyone knew about it was that it featured a scene where Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis sang a song together. That song was a cover of Smokey Robinson’s Cruisin‘ and even though the movie was never a big hit, the song was on the radio all through 2000 and 2001. Some people thought it was weird that they were singing a somewhat romantic song when they were playing father and daughter. Well, maybe so. But let me tell you something about karaoke — you go with whatever song you can sing. My sisters and I used to sing karaoke all the time. We would embarrass the Hell out of my mom and we once had a DJ yell at us because one of us very dramatically dropped the microphone on the stage after we finished our song. (Yes, it was me.) Now, my sisters all have good singing voice. Me, I can barely carry a tune. I can dance but I can’t sing. However, I did discover that I could sing backup on Love Shack so every time my sisters and I hit karaoke night at Grandpa Tony’s, the first thing that we would do would be find some guy drunk enough to sing Love Shack while Erin and I provided backup. As long as I got to yell “Rusted!” after Erin said, “Tin roof!,” I was happy. Grandpa Tony’s, by the way, was a nice little restaurant that was near the airport. It was owned by an ex-boxer who always came out to flirt with mom. They had the best chips and queso and, every Friday night, there would be a lot of drunk pilots and flight attendants singing Love Shack along with us. Unfortunately, the place has since closed down.

Where as I? Oh yeah, today’s music video of the day is Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis covering Crusin. Enjoy!

Baby, let’s cruise away from here
Don’t be confused, the way is clear
And if you want it, you got it forever
This is not a one-night stand, baby, yeah
So, let the music take your mind
Ooh, just release and you will find

You gonna fly away, glad you’re goin’ my way
I love it when we’re cruisin’ together
The music is played for love, cruisin’ is made for love
I love it when we’re cruisin’ together

Baby, tonight belongs to us
Everything’s right, do what you must
And inch by inch we get closer and closer
To every little part of each other
Let the music take your mind
Just release and you will find, baby

You gonna fly away, glad you’re goin’ my way
I love it when we’re cruising together
The music is played for love, cruisin’ is made for love
I love it when we’re cruisin’ together

Cruise with me, baby
Cruise with me, baby

Cruise
Ooh, ooh, baby, yeah
Oh, baby
Oh, oh, ah, baby
So good to cruise with you, baby
So good to cruise with you, baby
Ooh, yeah, you and me, baby

Oh, baby, let’s cruise
Let’s flow, let’s glide
Ooh, let’s open up, and go inside
And if you want, it you got it forever
I can just stay there inside you
And love you, baby, oh…
Let the music take your mind
Just release and you will find, baby

You gonna fly away, glad you’re goin’ my way
I love it when we’re cruising together
The music is played for love, cruisin’ is made for love
I love it when we’re cruisin’ together

You gonna fly away, glad you’re goin’ my way
I love it when we’re cruising together
The music is played for love, cruisin’ is made for love
I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it…

Desolation Canyon (2006, directed by David Cass)

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

After robbing a bank in a small western town, an outlaw stops by the home of his estranged wife and takes his own son hostage. The town’s aging sheriff (Patrick Duffy) teams with the boy’s grandfather (Stacy Keach) to take the outlaw down and save the child’s life. Accompanying them is the bank president, Edwin Bornstein (David Rees Snell). Edwin may be a city boy who talks about how much he’s always wanted to say “I reckon,” but it turns out that there’s more to him than meets the eye. He’s also good with a gun.

I probably should have given up on Desolation Canyon as soon as I saw that it was a “Hallmark Presents” film but I like westerns and Stacy Keach has always done well whenever he’s been cast as a gunslinger so I decided to give it a try. Starting with a bank robbery and endings with a duel, Desolation Canyon is about as old-fashioned as an old-fashioned western can be. Because it was made by Hallmark, there’s nothing dangerous or edgy about the film. A few people do get shot but there’s no blood. The shoot outs in Red Dead Redemption are more violent and suspenseful than anything to be found in this film. (Of course, that’s because most of the shootouts in Red Dead Redemption occur because the play pushed the wrong button while trying to greet someone. I still feel bad for accidentally shooting the kindly old homesteader who just wanted someone to help him collect some flowers for his wife.) This is the type of western that you can safely watch with your grandparents, since that’s who the film was made for. That’s not bad because grandparents need movies to but if you’re looking for a complex or an unpredictable western in the style of a Larry McMurtry novel or a later Eastwood film, I reckon this ain’t it.

Giving some credit where credit is due, Stacy Keach, David Rees Snell, and even Patrick Duffy are credible in their roles. Stacy Keach is especially convincing a former gunfighter who can still outdraw anyone. Stacy Keach is 81 years old and still working. Someone needs to write a great Stacy Keach role and they need to do it now.

Artwork of the Day: Martin Luther King (by Peter Engels)

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Dazzling Erin

by Peter Engels

Today is a day that we honor a great man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Music Video of the Day: Atomic by Blondie (1999, dir by ????)

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Through the Shattered Lens has already shared the original video for Blondie’s Atomic, the one that was released in the late 70s and which featured the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in a small role. This second music video is for the live version of the song. It was filmed in 1999, while the band was performing at New York’s Town Hall. The entire show was filmed by VH-1.

What can I say? I just like this song. It’s a song that makes me want to dance. It’s also a song that makes me appreciate my hair. “Your hair is beautiful” is a simple lyric but it’s also one that perfectly captures a very certain feeling, that feeling that this night is going to be greatest night of all. Of course, the song itself is often interpreted as being about the end of the world. If the world was ending, wouldn’t you want your hair to be beautiful?

(For the record, Debbie Harry says that “Atomic” was simply a way of describing something as being powerful, that the lyrics were just some words that sounded good to her, and that there really isn’t any sort of deep meaning to the majority of the song. I would argue that the fact that Atomic is about nothing makes it about everything. I would also argue that it’s occasionally fun to make pseudo-profound pronouncements and see if anyone takes them seriously.)

Enjoy!

Uh huh make me tonight
Tonight make it right
Uh huh make me tonight
Tonight
Tonight
Oh uh huh make it magnificent
Tonight
Right
Oh your hair is beautiful
Oh tonight
Atomic
Tonight make it magnificent
Tonight
Make me tonight
Your hair is beautiful
Oh tonight
Atomic
Atomic
Oh

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 1/10/22 — 1/16/22

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent most of this week sick. No …. not COVID sick. Instead, I just had a cold. I get a cold every January. In fact, I almost always get a cold during the second week of January so really, I guess I should be happy that I’m consistent about these things. The temperature is plunging outside. The nights are below freezing. The days aren’t much better. The snow that is covering the rest of the country might reach us eventually. Who knows? But, my point is, this is the type of weather that always leads to me getting a cold so it’s no surprise or reason for worry that I ended up with a cold this week.

Still, being sick when there’s things you want to do sucks! And it especially sucks right now because anytime I so much as sniff in public, everyone turns around and stares like I’m a witch. And it doesn’t matter if I’m wearing a mask. I could probably carry a negative COVID test around with me and there’s certain people in the world who would freak out the slightest hint of a cough.

My point is, people are paranoid out there. But again, I’m not a witch. I’m just a girl with asthma, trying to survive the cold season. I will happily be weighed alongside a duck because I am definitely not a witch.

Anyway, I was sick from Monday until Thursday. I’m over it now and I’m ready to make up for missed time over the upcoming week! Here’s what I watched, read, and listened to this week:

Films I Watched:

American Ninja 2 (1987)
Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
End of a Gun (2016)
God’s Not Dead: We The People (2021)
I Hear The Trees Whispering (2022)
The Internship (2013)
The Last Duel (2021)
Mass (2021)
Murder in the Blue Room (1944)
The Truman Show (1998)

Television Shows I Watched:

Allo Allo
The Amazing Race
The Bachelor
Bar Rescue
Football Game: Cowboys vs The Cheaters
Full House
Judge Steve Harvey
King of the Hill
Mom
The Office
Open All Hours
Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules
Silk Stalkings

Books I Read:

The Man on the Train (1988) by W.J. Chaput

Music To Which I Listened:

Alesso
Avicii
Bee Gees
Blondie
Britney Spears
Calvin Harris
The Chambers Brothers
Charli XCX
The Chemical Brothers
Chic
Coldplay
Donavon
Fatboy Slim
Fiona Apple
Icona Pop
John Carpenter
JR JR
Katy Perry
Muse
Paper Lace
The Prodigy
Saint Motel
Samuel
Smokey Robinson
Steve Miller Band
Taylor Swift
Underworld
Wyre
Yvonne Elliman

Best of 2021:

25 Best, Worst, and Gems Val Saw In 2021 (Valerie Troutman)

Awards Season:

Trailers:

6 Classic Trailers for January 16th, 2022

News From Last Week:

Links From Last Week:

Links From The Site:

Case reviewed Gone and the Lady Vic episode of Titans!
Erin shared The Scarlet Spade, The Grindle Nightmare, The Smasher, A Half Interest in Murder, Crockett’s Woman, The Shame Takers, and Top of the Heap! She also reviewed Forever Strong and took a look at the covers of Detective Short Stories!
Jeff reviewed Gunfighters, End of the Gun, Griff the Invisible, Rangers of Fortune, The Doolins of Oklahoma, Ring of Terror, and Space Rage! He also played Second Wind and wrote about Galactus and the first ever televised football game!
Val shared her 25 Best, Worst, and Gems list of 2021!
Ryan reviewed The Christmas Before/Santer, Quiet Thoughts, and Sour Pickles!
I shared music videos from Wyre, The Chambers Brothers, Chic, Bee Gees, Steve Miller Band, Paper Lace, and Yvonne Elliman!
I reviewed Ford: The Man and the Machine, Dear Evan Hansen, I Hear The Trees Whispering, Space Mutiny, and God’s Not Dead 4.
I paid tribute to John Carpenter and Walter Hill!
I shared scenes from Diva and Bonnie and Clyde,
I read 1988!
I shared my week in television and reviewed the Dexter finale!
I shared an AMV of the Day and a short film called The Other Fellow’s Feelings!

Great Moments In Television History #12: NBC Airs The First Football Game

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

Today, everyone takes at least three things for granted: television, football, and football on television.

However, that wasn’t always the case. There was a time when television was a novelty and the idea of watching a game on television while it was being played was nearly unheard of. The first televised football game didn’t involve any of the teams in what would eventually become the NFL. Instead, it was a college game between Fordham and Waynesburg. It was played on September 30th, 1939.

The game was aired on NBC, as part of an experiment to see whether or not a game could actually be carried live over the air. The game was called by Bill Stern, a radio announcer who was famous for embellishing the action on the field while he was calling it. Unfortunately, since no footage of the game appears to still exist, no one knows if he attempted to embellish the action that was being televised.

All in all, NBC spent $100,000 to show the game. What was the size of the audience for the very first televised football game? It was speculated that 500 to 1.000 people watched the game on television! In 1939, with television still a luxury for most people, that was enough to convince NBC that sports and television could go together. 82 years later, it appears that NBC was right.

Incidentally, Fordham beat Waynesburg, 34-7.

Previous Great Moments In Television History:

Great Moments In Comic Book History #16: Alex Ross Captures Galactus In All His Glory

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

Galactus has always been one of my favorite Marvel characters and it’s a shame that his only film appearance was botched in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Now that the Fantastic Four are once again free to be a part of the MCU, my sincere hope is that we’ll get a worthy Galactus film. If Marvel Studios could bring Thanos to life, why not the Planet-Eater?

Below is Galactus (and the Silver Surfer) as imagined by Alex Ross. All four of these images are from Marvels #3 (March 1994) and they really capture Galactus in all of his glory.

Hopefully, the next time Galactus appeared in a film, he’ll be as impressive as he was here.

Previous Great Moments In Comic Book History:

Space Rage (1985, directed by Conrad E. Palmisano)

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

Space Rage is a mix of science fiction and the old west.

In what the movie insists is the far future, a sadistic and notorious criminal named Grange (Michael Pare) is a captured after robbing the Bank of the Moon. As his punishment, he’s sent to a prison planet called Botany Bay. Despite the name, the entire prison is a desert. (Maybe they named it after the doomed colony from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.) The prison is run by Gov. Tovah (William Windom), who uses the prisoners as slave labor in his mines. Grange doesn’t want to work as a miner so he plots his escape. There’s only one shuttle that goes from Botany Bay to Earth and Grange plans to be in control of it.

Two men are determined to stop Grange and his partners from escaping the planet. Walker (John Laughlin) is a young bounty hunter who is haunted by he death of his wife. The Colonel (Richard Farnsworth) is a former policeman who is haunted by nightmares of his time on Earth. Working together, the inexperienced Walker and the crusty, old Colonel try to thwart Grange’s plans. Grange has an itchy trigger finger and is willing to kill anyone to get what he wants. Grange may be quick on the draw but the Colonel might be even quicker.

Space Rage starts out as a western before becoming a prison film before then concluding as a Mad Max rip-off, with everyone chasing each other through the desert in intergalactic dune buggies. The movie is only 75 minutes long but due to a repetitive soundtrack and some less than inspired dialogue, it often feels longer. The Botany Bay is too obviously Southern California to be an effective setting and neither Michael Pare nor John Laughlin seem to be invested in their roles. Not surprisingly, the film’s greatest strength is Richard Farnsworth, playing another no-nonsense veteran tough guy and doing what a man has to do to keep Earth safe. His presence alone does not make Space Rage worth watching but it definitely helps. It’s a good thing he was out there looking out for us.

Game Review: Second Wind (2021, Matthew Warner)

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

Society has collapsed. Biological warfare has changed the majority of humans into werewolves. Those who have not been infected live in locked-down shelters. You live in Shelter 5, with your second wife Lorraine. You used to live in Shelter 4 with your first wife, Wendy. Wendy kicked you out after she found out that you were cheating on her with Lorraine. Things have been tense ever since.

Now, Lorraine’s pregnant. The midwife has told you that the delivery is not going as planned. A C-section has to be performed to save the lives of both Lorraine and the baby. (With humanity nearly wiped out, the survival of your baby could give hope to those few who remain.) You have to get a doctor but that means making you way across the desert wasteland and the ruined city to Shelter 4. Not only do you have to save the life of your second wife but you’re going to have to convince your first wife to help you do it. You only have a few hours to make it and all of the shelter’s hoverbikers are damaged beyond use. Best of luck!

Second Wind is an interactive fiction game for adults. The stakes are real. The puzzles require thought. Your mistakes have consequences. Puzzles are usually my great downfall when it comes interactive fiction. Timed challenges are my second greatest downfall. As you can probably guess, I had to play Second Wind a few times before I got anything close to a good ending and, even then, it was only as good as any ending can be when the world’s gone to Hell in a bucket without anyone even enjoying the ride. But the challenge made the eventual success even more rewarding. When playing a game like Second Wind, the best advice would be to remember that using google is not the same as cheating and that Occam’s Razor is your friend. It also helps to take notes because a lot of the game’s puzzles depend on remembering numbers and then inputting them into the keypads necessary to enter the shelters.

I dug Second Wind. It’s better-written than most and the descriptions are so vivid that you’ll feel like you’re in that apocalyptic desert, trying to make your way back home. And if you really do get lost, there is a walk-through that explains the puzzles without leaving you feeling too ashamed for not being able to figure them out for yourself.

Play Second Wind.